Good public response to Open Day at National Institute of Nutrition

Hyderabad: The city-based National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) conducted its Open Day on Friday. The institute opened its doors to the public to visit its laboratories, see the instruments and interact with the scientists. More than 700 people visited the institute. School and college students came in large numbers along with their parents.

A number of specialty divisions including Biochemistry Cell, Molecular Biology, Clinical, Public Health and Sports Nutrition were thrown open to the visitors who were also given an opportunity to do a few nutrition tests which were conducted for free. Students felt motivated and inspired by talking to scientists and learning about new researches and studies conducted by the institution.

K Vaibhav, studying Applied Nutrition at Sardar Patel College, Secunderabad, said, "I am studying Applied Nutrition but what we are taught is not so advanced studies as they conduct here. It was a great experience for me as a nutritionist. This is very motivating and informative at the same time. I am looking forward to more such interactions and open days in the near future."

Pawan Prabhu a Class 8 student from Gautam Model School, AS Rao Nagar, said, "The sessions were very informative and for a Class 8 student like me, I got to know about many new scientific things by visiting stem cell and biochemistry labs." T Saishree, a second-year Food Technology student from Osmania University College of Technology, said "We have read about the equipment which they use here only in our books. The equipment used in our labs is not as advanced as they have here. It was surely a motivating experience to see them work."

A Pavani, another second-year Food Technology student from Osmania University College of Technology, observed: "It was an amazing experience to visit the Biochemistry Cell and the Molecular Cell labs which we do not have in college labs. We are surely returning with a lot of motivation and knowledge."

The open day was organized in accordance with the directives of the Ministry of Science and Technology to open up science institutes to the public and promote public interaction.